My perfect routine is to get out there, get the heart rate up for 20 mins, come home and do yoga stretches, shower and then paint. Heads clear, body feels good and I am ready to roll. I did that this morning and I feel great.
Of course along with lack of exercise comes weight gain. My scale says I am within normal, but my clothing tells me another story. I told myself this morning that unless I am going to burn off the carbs, there will be no more yummy snax. Guess that's as good a reason as any to get out there! Just do it! I say.
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 09:15 0 Comments

Off to the studio today to start something new!
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 08:25 0 Comments

Years ago as a beginner, if I were to paint a group that large for a show, I would have been working at it for a very long time. Maybe I was too critical of myself, but by the time I would have worked my way to the 20th, I would have looked back at the first few and have had to replace or rework them.
I have spent the last 25 years on my- self taught journey hip-hopping around trying new mediums and styles, what fun! I have followed my instincts and have done exactly what I have wanted to do….well…most of the time. The times I didn't do what I wanted to do were learning opportunities and I would not change them either.
I have finally arrived at a point in my journey as an artist, where I am able to look at my work and say "yes, that is what I have been trying to say".(for right now anyways) My goal for this year is to work on a cohesive group of work and I am on track.
3 paintings in the last stages….stay tuned!
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 09:30 0 Comments

It is a busy place for tourists and boaters. I will go back there again on a warmer day.
I then drove to the Buckley Bay Petrocan and ordered a delicious and hot latte from the little shop below the store and headed up to the rest stop. I have painted in that location before and the view is quite beautiful with lots of dark tree tops framing the bay and Denman Island.
Next stop, Union Bay. I stayed in the car at this point and listened to CBC radio while I painted on my steering wheel mounted easel. It was getting colder out and I was all snug in the vehicle.
On my way home I pulled over into the "Mystery Beach" rest stop (between Union and Buckley Bay...it has a bathroom...) and sat on the beach and prepared to do up an 8x10 watercolor. I had been working on little paper all day and was finally ready to paint something larger. The layers of land to the south gradated in color just perfectly.....but it began raining and my painting ended up covered in splashes. I hopefully will be able to re visit it again and fix the splotches.
By now it was the home stretch and I only needed one more sketch to complete my goal of 10 for the day, I set goals to give myself a push. My lazy self was busy telling me it didn't matter, I could go home with only 9 who really cares anyways! Bu t I stopped in Deep Bay, finished the day with a Chrome Island scene and felt much better about myself for it.
I was feeling a little stir crazy when I got home and realized that I needed some exercise,(sitting sedentary for too many hours) so I grabbed the dog and went for a little walk/jog before I unpacked. Much better!
You can find my sketches and studies on my public facebook page Cindy Mawle Westcoast Contemporary Artist.
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 10:53 0 Comments

Posted by Cindy Mawle at 08:48 1 Comments

This morning I enticed a robin into my garden by turning some soil over to get rid of the new small weeds coming up. I sat quiet with my camera a little ways away and just waited. It didn't take him long. Hmmm...maybe a series in the making? Stay tuned!
"All Nested In" 12"x12" Acrylic on Linen Information is in the Westcoast Studio section of Artworks.
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 12:47 0 Comments

Is it best to drive by and have a new subdivision in the place of your childhood home? leaving you only your select recollections and a few photographs? I do not know, it may be easier than this.
The little brown shingled "less than elegant" house once enveloped the joy and sadness of my childhood. Oh! the parties my parents held, the laughter, friendships, music and alcohol that was involved. My sleepovers with friends,giggles, popcorn, prank phonecalls and records listened to. Holiday family dinners with grandparents, uncles and aunts. The many birthday parties of my own and my little sister's. Ahh, then there was the coming home from visiting mom in the hospital, the emptiness, tears, the confusion and the eventual loss....A mixture of memories....
On this day my friend and I walked along the trail at the bottom of the property and found a smaller trail to the orchard. There stood the once mighty yellow plum tree. The strong branch which held my friends and I as children, now amputated. The familiar twist of the trunk still evident. I sat in this tree in happiness and sadness back then. It was a place to go eat plums, throw plums, and cry when life was difficult. "Hello my old friend" I quietly said. A strange sadness came over me. I was quiet for awhile, lost while processing this new information. I borrowed a pen from my friend and scrawled "Cindy was here" on a tree on the trail. I am not sure why....it just felt like the right thing to do......
Interesting thing is when I loaded this picture onto my website just for this blog, the title of the previous painting in its slot was "Weight of the World"....I think I will leave it at that.
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 07:28 0 Comments

Not particularly interested in going into the darkness of the basement to paint, but I had better get some work done.
It could be worse, I could be one of those people trying to get to the gulf islands in the next day or so. They say the ferries are booked solid for the next couple of days. Long weekends are a good time to stay home!
I sold the painting, "Fall Forest Path" out of the Ginger 9 studio in Courtenay. Marilyn phoned me with the good news yesterday. Right! I am feeling better already! Thankyou to the purchaser if you are reading this! If you email me, I will let you know where the inspiration for the painting came from.
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 09:52 0 Comments

I was blogging about the painting I am working on right now and how it is in its "Ugly Stage". That is the stage when all the values are around the same and the design has no "oomph". That is why I am blogging. I am avoiding it. I DO know how to work my way through it and know that the build up in this stage is well worth the effort. I just have to make sure my left brain does not allow me to think it is a lost cause, so when I start feeling like I dont know how to paint, I blog!
I took a workshop with a well established and amazing artist a few years back. As I watched him compose his painting, I realized that he also had an "ugly stage" and it made me feel so much better. Now I don't sweat it. I know that eventually the right brushstrokes here and there will bring back the magic.
I also finally figured out how to keep my paints wet! (its an ongoing thing with me) I blogged once before about those wonderful little plastic cups from Walmart. I now place them in one of those Artisan Lettuce containers. I place the paint filled cups in the bottom, then put a piece of cellophane or plastic on top, then pile up another layer on top of that. Another piece of plastic on top of that and snap it down. When I am done painting for the day, I spray it, then slip it into a produce bag, nice and tight. I have 16 little cups of color in there and some of them have been wet for 3 weeks now. This is the best system yet!
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 06:59 0 Comments

I was putting the second coat of varnish on one of the sections and I noticed that I had some pthalo turquoise on my finger. Then I noticed some on my smock and even more on the rag I was using...then OMG! There was some on the painting! Somehow the rag had been sitting in the pool of paint on my palette. Now for those of you who don't know, pthalo turquoise is a very strong tint. The studio leprechauns were good to me this time though. The paint was only smeared onto the outside edge and was an easy remove. I will not relax now until the painting is packed up and out of my hands.
I am working on a large painting of harlequin ducks. So far so good! I am looking forward to getting up early tomorrow morning and tagging the day as a "painting day".
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 07:48 0 Comments

At one point I was sitting on the beach at Aylard's Farm in East Sooke Park. I had my new gouache (opaque watercolor) paints beside me and the soft rhythm of the waves were lulling me into a meditative "totally in touch with the now" mind space. Ahhh..life couldn't be better. I packed up my paints slowly and methodically walked back to where the rest of my supplies sat in the shade. I was thoughtfully looking down at the sand as it massaged the bottoms of my bare feet when... "WHACK!!!" I was jolted back into the real world. "WHAT THE???!!!" I stepped back and was face to face with a broken off branch of a long since expired arbutus which was the same level as my head. Of course I looked around to see if anyone saw...the beach was empty....so I laughed out loud to myself and continued on chuckling at my clumsiness. I have a pretty good cut on my head but I find it all rather funny! I was lucky I was moving slowly.
I have put a 10 minute video on Youtube you may be interested in. It starts out slow but speeds up a ways through. Much like the process of painting.
http://youtu.be/XYijMAkRrIc or search cindy mawle on youtube
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 07:26 0 Comments

The same thing happens while working on a painting, and this can go either way. I think I have this most awesome thing happening on the canvas...then I go for a coffee. When I come back I find it has changed into a horrible mess....nothing like what I thought. "WHAT????" Then the opposite can happen at times. A painting I am so frustrated with and cannot resolve gets banished to the junk pile. I pull it out months later to find out it was actually a great piece that only needed a brushstroke here and there to complete its awesomeness!(slight exaggeration, but you get the drift).
So how to harness the true perspective on something? Meditation? Perhaps. I should do more of that.
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 07:17 0 Comments

By day 2:
Your perspective changes when in a place like this. I can feel a "switch" turn on (or off?) in my brain. A meal becomes an enjoyable ritual, not the annoyance it gets to be at home. Things are simpler. Water from buckets drawn from the creek, boil before drinking just in case. An old propane stove-a luxury. Cast iron fry pans, teflon has no place here. Hot water is drawn from the large ever present pot on the air tight stove. A warm facecloth in the evening never felt so good.
Deer become an integral part of the land. If the deer are in the field, the wolves and bears are not lurking. They bring a sense of peace and comfort, rather than the IRE that comes from one protecting a manicured and well stocked flower or vegetable bed....
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 07:31 0 Comments

Sitting here @ the table. Guys are out fishing, its 6:30 am. Each window boasts a different view of the serene surroundings but it is not silent here now. The moaning, banging, crashing and whining of high powered saws echo all around, ripping through the natural beauty around me, making it difficult to connect. The natural flow is broken but will begin to heal come quitting time only to be broken once again when time clock is punched in the morning. I absolutely understand the need for it to be this way, but my understanding is filled with sadness.... I heard a loon call in the early silence, I do not expect to hear another today. ( They are clearing and logging close by).
After I wrote this I headed to the beach to paint. As I stood paintbrush in hand, working on my little study, listening to the birds carry on despite the noise, I put it all into perspective. I made a promise to myself to be aware of my possessions and where they came from. My studio for example, which I so badly want, will be built out of wood. How many hands does my wood pass through before it lands on my doorstep, how many meals did it pay for, mortgages, children's clothing. I have no right to be sad. Just aware. My father drove logging truck when I was a child, it was his livelihood. Logging practices have improved since then.
The patchwork patterns on logged hillsides show the different stages of re-forestation, making for interesting design elements and easing my mind.
Oh, and the noise? I hardly noticed it by the 3rd day. Like the birds I just tuned it out I guess.
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 07:43 0 Comments

2 days were spent getting to the location,(we had to boat in) and 3 days mostly alone to wander the homestead property to paint, photograph and absorb the beauty surrounding me.(the guys took off early every morning to fish for the day) I managed to pull off 4 small acrylics and 3 pen and ink. I wrote in my sketchbook as well, and that I will share in the next couple of blog entries. Just observations about myself and how I adjusted to my "rustic" living quarters and surroundings. I always said I would love to live somewhere isolated. But maybe now I am re-thinking that statement. Not quite that isolated...But I did have service on my blackberry and managed to email and txt. Made me feel a little better.
Posted by Cindy Mawle at 08:16 0 Comments
